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Secretary of State
August 15, 2017
SECRETARY TILLERSON: Morning, all. We are releasing today the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report. This report is a requirement pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 – legislation that upholds religious freedom as a core American value under the Constitution's First Amendment, as well as a universal human right. This law calls for the government to, quote, "[Stand] for liberty and [stand] with the persecuted, to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to promote respect for religious freedom by all governments and peoples."
Almost 20 years after the law's passage, conditions in many parts of the world are far from ideal. Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent. Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion. Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root.
We cannot ignore these conditions. The Trump administration has committed to addressing these conditions in part by advancing international religious freedom around the world. The State Department will continue to advocate on behalf of those seeking to live their lives according to their faith.
The release of the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report details the status of religious freedom in 199 countries and territories, and provides insights as to significant and growing challenges. Today I want to call out a few of the more egregious and troubling examples.
As we make progress in defeating ISIS and denying them their caliphate, their terrorist members have and continue to target multiple religions and ethnic groups for rape, kidnapping, enslavement, and even death.
To remove any ambiguity from previous statements or reports by the State Department, the crime of genocide requires three elements: specific acts with specific intent to destroy in whole or in part specific people, members of national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups. Specific act, specific intent, specific people.
Application of the law to the facts at hand leads to the conclusion ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled.
ISIS is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups, and in some cases against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities.
More recently, ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks on Christian pilgrims and churches in Egypt.
The protection of these groups – and others subject to violent extremism – is a human rights priority for the Trump administration.
We will continue working with our regional partners to protect religious minority communities from terrorist attacks and to preserve their cultural heritage.
As the 2016 report indicates, many governments around the world use discriminatory laws to deny their citizens freedom of religion or belief.
In Iran, Baha'is, Christians, and other minorities are persecuted for their faith. Iran continues to sentence individuals to death under vague apostasy laws – 20 individuals were executed in 2016 on charges that included, quote, "waging war against God." Members of the Baha'i community are in prison today simply for abiding by their beliefs.
We remain concerned about the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. The government does not recognize the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public and applied criminal penalties, including prison sentences, lashings, and fines, for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the state's interpretation of Islam. Of particular concern are attacks targeting Shia Muslims, and the continued pattern of social prejudice and discrimination against them. We urge Saudi Arabia to embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens.
In Turkey, authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups, and some communities continue to experience protracted property disputes. Non-Sunni Muslims, such as Alevi Muslims, do not receive the same governmental protections as those enjoyed by recognized non-Muslim minorities and have faced discrimination and violence. Additionally, the United States continues to advocate for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Turkey.
And in Bahrain, the government continued to question, detain, and arrest Shia clerics, community members, and opposition politicians. Members of the Shia community there continue to report ongoing discrimination in government employment, education, and the justice system. Bahrain must stop discriminating against the Shia communities.
In China, the government tortures, detains, and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs. Dozens of Falun Gong members have died in detention. Police – policies that restrict Uighur Muslims' and Tibetan Buddhists' religious expression and practice have increased.
Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy. The government marginalizes Ahmadiyya Muslims, and refuses to recognize them as Muslim. It is my hope that the new prime minister and his government will promote interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities.
Finally, in Sudan the government arrests, detains, and intimidates clergy and church members. It denies permits for the construction of new churches and is closing or demolishing existing ones.
We encourage the Government of Sudan to engage concretely on the religious freedom action plan provided by the department last year.
Unfortunately, the list goes on.
No one should have to live in fear, worship in secret, or face discrimination because of his or her beliefs. As President Trump has said, we look forward to a day when, quote, "people of all faiths, Christians and Muslims and Jewish and Hindu, can follow their hearts and worship according to their conscience," end quote.
The State Department will continue its efforts to make that a reality. Recently nominated Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Governor Sam Brownback, will be the highest-ranking official ever to take up this important post. We look forward to his swift confirmation.
I thank my many colleagues at the department and overseas who contributed to this report, and specifically the Office of International Religious Freedom, including Senior Advisor on Global Justice Issues Pam Pryor, Special Advisor for Religious Minorities Knox Thames, and the previous ambassador-at-large, David Saperstein.
We look forward to working with Congress, and the administration, to continue America's indispensable role as a champion of religious freedom the world over. Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, do you have any response to Kim Jong-un's decision to pull back his threat on Guam?
SECRETARY TILLERSON: No, I have no response to his decisions at all at this time. Thank you.
QUESTION: Any comments on the situation there, in North Korea?
SECRETARY TILLERSON: We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue, but that's up to him. Thank you.


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An increasing number of couples are choosing destination weddings over traditional "white gown and rehearsal dinner" weddings. Destination weddings provide a fun opportunity to reunite family and friends in a truly amazing setting or to celebrate a private ceremony in an unforgettable locale. With destination weddings representing approximately ten percent of all weddings, it is easier to find more cruise lines and resorts offering robust and attractively priced packages especially designed for wedding parties.
But destination weddings take considerable planning, and the best accommodations are not always available to last minute shoppers. The earlier you begin to plan your wedding, and the more experienced and professional assistance you have, the greater your chances of pulling off a hassle-free, exotic wedding. Use this guide as an introduction to destination weddings that you can take to your travel agent to begin planning your own personal idea of perfection. A professional travel consultant skilled in the details of destination weddings is invaluable. Using your travel consultant as a contact point provides you with a "one stop shopping" opportunity. A travel consultant can ensure that you are presented with a range of destinations and options, as well as assemble a travel package for the wedding party that is the best possible value. An experienced travel consultant can also provide you with wedding planners local to your chosen destination to handle the logistics of the ceremony and reception, however minimalist or involved.
The most important decision in planning a destination wedding is the location. Some couples choose a destination that they have already vacationed or visited, while other couples choose somewhere new – hoping to create brand new memories they will always relate to their wedding day. Many have had a dream setting in mind since their engagement. Some of the most popular destinations are the beaches of the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico, while others prefer historic settings or national parks. Extreme activity and sports-themed weddings are also considered destination weddings, and couples can take their vows while skydiving or scuba diving, or the ceremony can take place at a very non-traditional venue like a NASCAR race. For those who want to travel to Europe, consider England, which boasts the shortest flight to Europe and romantic settings like manor houses or castles, while Italy is known for scenic villa and winery weddings. Couples with a more limited budget may enjoy destinations like Las Vegas or Florida, which are popular for all-inclusive weddings. A higher budget will afford an exotic wedding in Fiji or Australia.
Travel dates and trip length are major factors in choosing a location. Will you and your guests want to fly, drive or take a train? Traveling out of the country will require more time as well as passports or other documentation for couples and guests. Some will choose to have their wedding at a closer location, and then splurge on a dream honeymoon once guests head back home. Before you are set on anything, though, check with your travel professional, as some hotel or resort packages include a free honeymoon if the couple commits to a certain number of rooms or guests for the wedding.
The couple planning a destination wedding must also take weather and season into consideration. Beach weddings can be spectacular, but weather conditions change quickly and can be uncertain. Couples wishing to marry in the Caribbean have hurricane season to consider and may opt for an island like Aruba, which is out of the hurricane belt during the fall months. Finally, planning your ceremony during a destination's peak travel season can mean crowded resorts and perhaps a less intimate backdrop for the ceremony. Given your special itinerary, your travel consultant can make recommendations or help you narrow down your destination wish-list.
Destination weddings can range from amazingly inexpensive, and far less than a traditional wedding, to very costly. Once you have an idea of where you would like to be married, analyze your budget. Carefully assess the costs of travel, accommodations, activities and meals. Decide how many guests you can truly afford at the wedding and whether or not you will pay for any part of their travel. If you are hoping for a crowd of guests and/or expect them to pay for any expenses, planning early and sending travel information well in advance is a must!
If cost is an important factor, your travel agent can offer a variety of options in any destination. It is possible and often very desirable to take a minimalist, stress-free approach to your destination wedding. In many instances, all you'll need are a justice of the peace or similar official, a wedding license, and a romantic spot. Don't let price be the ultimate determinant of your dream ceremony. Be creative.
At home or in an exotic locale, the guest list can pose problems. Many couples choose to elope and skip invitations. They simply send an announcement when they return home and maybe throw a fun party so everyone can still get together and celebrate. Other couples find that destination weddings give them the option to invite only a few close friends or family members, so they are forced to reduce their guest list a very manageable number of special invitees. And still others will send invitations out to a larger number, placing the decision solely in guests' hands (and perhaps their wallets) to attend the wedding. Keep in mind that some resorts only allow guests over age 16 or 18, so an adult-only location may not work for guests with families.
Who can you expect to attend a faraway wedding? Sometimes the RSVP's are quite surprising. Many who are invited actually attend in order to combine their own vacation with the couple's special day. Conversely, some may not have the financial means or the ability to take off work to travel. Most hotels will offer special room rates to couples and their guests or a certain number of rooms may be part of the wedding package itself.
Give some forethought to how long guests will stay at the wedding site. Couples can travel alone and have guests arrive a day or two later, or everyone can travel together as a group. If guests arrive a few days before the wedding, fun options are arranging a group tour or sightseeing in smaller groups, if you have a lot of people, or guests with different interests. You may also plan nothing at all, and allow guests some quiet vacation time of their own before the wedding; in this case, consider sending along a destination guide (often available free from your travel agent) so they can choose their own itinerary.
As you might imagine, the legal requirements for far-away nuptials vary greatly by destination. Most popular destination wedding locations in the United States and abroad have streamlined the process and provide very solid information on their consular or official tourism web sites. Some destinations require a residency period before you can be married. In places like France and Fiji, couples may have to spend up to 40 days in residency before the wedding, which can make things very difficult and much more expensive. Other locales only require a waiting period of 3 days or less and are far more manageable. Your travelconsultant will assist you with these details, and again – this is where having an expert help really counts! There are no end of stories of brides who end up with a great honeymoon, and a civil ceremony that follows at home because they were not prepared.
Couples will need documentation before they travel, and often a few months before the event itself. Required documents may include birth certificates, passports, previous marriage certificates or divorce decrees if applicable. Your local contacts will provide information on requirements for blood tests or applications for licenses. American diplomatic and consular officers are not permitted to perform marriages. Marriages abroad are almost always performed by local civil or religious officials. In general, marriages that are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States, but in any event, inquiries regarding the validity of a marriage abroad should be directed to the attorney general of the state in the United States where the bride and groom live.
Minimum marriage age varies from one country to another. Persons under the age of 18 must, as a general rule, present a written statement of consent executed by their parents before a notary public. Some countries require the parental consent statement to be authenticated by a consular official of that foreign country in the United States. In short, don't underestimate the rules and regulations you'll need to address, sometimes far in advance. And you always have the option of marrying at home before or after a non-binding ceremony at your destination – you may find this to be the best choice to ensure that you'll enjoy every minute of the trip.
Once you choose a destination and have a good idea what it will cost and who you are going to invite, you can start planning the ceremony details. Wedding coordinators can make a lot of the arrangements, and many resorts and cruise lines even have their own wedding departments. If an on-site wedding planner is not available, think about hiring your own planner to help with details, research and correspondence. Destination wedding planners will often offer traditional choices for flowers, food and music to fit a wide variety of budgets. Wedding details that may have taken months to plan for a hometown wedding can often be chosen in just a matter of minutes at the destination itself. If you are on a budget, remember that many hotels, beaches, outdoor settings and the like are inherently decorated or beautiful in their own right – this is one step you may be able to skip.
Regardless of your location, however, many of the decisions remain the same. Do you want a rehearsal dinner the night before? Do you want a formal reception or just a table for two at a romantic restaurant? Do you want to wake that morning and leisurely get dressed and married or do you want to enjoy a spa treatment or massage? Music can be planned in advance or chosen on site, or some couples may choose no music at all and rely on things like waterfalls or ocean waves as the backdrop. Food can be catered and include ethnic or theme-oriented foods applicable to the locale or setting.
Like any wedding, attire can be formal and fancy or simple and casual. Clothing can reflect local culture and tradition, or you may prefer to still "walk down the aisle" in a more elegant wedding gown. If flying, formal wear like a wedding gown or tuxedo should be packed as a carry-on, if possible. If it is very important to arrive with particular items of clothing or other accessories, carry them onto the plane and avoid the heartbreak of a lost gown – or plan the wedding with time to allow for delivery of lost luggage, just in case. To avoid traveling with wedding wear, clothing can be shipped separately andin advance (this may result in a small storage fee at the hotel), or attire can sometimes be rented at the hotel or resort.
Photography, video and flower choices are abundant and often quite similar to traditional wedding choices. Couples can choose to hire a photographer, or they can simply rely on guests to capture more impromptu photos. Many all-inclusive wedding plans also include a photography package and video. Some videos will even include local footage of the area, like dolphins swimming or a video introduction of the resort or island. Flower arrangements are usually provided by a local florist and can often be chosen before you arrive or on site from photos and catalogs. Couples can also choose from popular pre-written wedding vows or write their own.
Be sure to inquire whether you need to supply your own witnesses for the ceremony, or whether the resort can provide them for you. Also remember that many wedding packages do not include gratuities for services provided by ministers, bartenders or transportation companies, so budget accordingly.
As you finalize arrangements, remember that some of the same tips that apply to traditional weddings also apply to destination weddings: avoid over-planning and allow ample free time for you and your guests to enjoy the wedding. Group activities can be a fun way to spend time with everyone, but don't overwhelm yourselves or guests with a rigid schedule or a strenuous activity the day before the wedding. Most importantly, remember that this is your day. Plan your dream wedding and make it your own. That's what destination weddings are all about.

subset: commoncrawl


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The government is fining Delta Air Lines Inc. $750,000 for bumping some passengers involuntarily, without offering compensation or seeking volunteers first.
Airlines sometimes sell too many tickets for a flight, and have to "bump" some or move them to a later flight. If travelers don't volunteer, the airline has to compensate them.
The Transportation Department says Delta has a widespread practice of noncompliance in how it handles bumped customers. Delta says the incidents were isolated, and that it has been training its employees in how to handle overbooked flights.
Atlanta-based Delta can use $425,000 of the penalty to buy tablet computers to record whether customers volunteer to be bumped. Delta has already been planning to buy tablets for that job.
Delta was fined $375,000 in 2009 for similar violations.


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Mudra Science is based upon Tatva Yoga (science of elements). Believes Acharya Keshav Dev, these mudras can help cure and prevent many diseases.
Consult From Experts
Acharya Patanjali (Yoga Expert)
Acharya Patanjli an engineer by profession is also a Yoga expert and has done Acharya from Paravidya Research Foundation in this field under the spiritual guidance.
Acharya Vikrmaditya (Astrologer)
Acharya Vikrmaditya is a trainer, counsellor, and spiritual guide. He is associated with Vivekanand Pratisthan Parishad and Paravidya Research Foundation.


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The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country's private, civilian-run infrastructure.
As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their emails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyber attacks.
Under last month's White House executive order on cybersecurity, the scans will be driven by classified information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies — including data from the National Security Agency (NSA) — on new or especially serious espionage threats and other hacking attempts. U.S. spy chiefs said on March 12 that cyber attacks have supplanted terrorism as the top threat to the country.
The Department of Homeland Security will gather the secret data and pass it to a small group of telecommunication companies and cyber security providers that have employees holding security clearances, government and industry officials said. Those companies will then offer to process email and other Internet transmissions for critical infrastructure customers that choose to participate in the program.
DHS as the middleman
By using DHS as the middleman, the Obama administration hopes to bring the formidable overseas intelligence-gathering of the NSA closer to ordinary U.S. residents without triggering an outcry from privacy advocates who have long been leery of the spy agency's eavesdropping.
The telecom companies will not report back to the government on what they see, except in aggregate statistics, a senior DHS official said in an interview granted on condition he not be identified.
"That allows us to provide more sensitive information," the official said. "We will provide the information to the security service providers that they need to perform this function." Procedures are to be established within six months of the order.
The administration is separately seeking legislation that would give incentives to private companies, including communications carriers, to disclose more to the government. NSA Director General Keith Alexander said last week that NSA did not want personal data but Internet service providers could inform the government about malicious software they find and the Internet Protocol addresses they were sent to and from.
"There is a way to do this that ensures civil liberties and privacy and does ensure the protection of the country," Alexander told a congressional hearing.
Fears grow of destructive attack
In the past, Internet traffic-scanning efforts were mainly limited to government networks and Defense Department contractors, which have long been targets of foreign espionage.
But as fears grow of a destructive cyber attack on core, non-military assets, and more sweeping security legislation remained stalled, the Obama administration opted to widen the program.
Last month's presidential order calls for commercial providers of "enhanced cybersecurity services" to extend their offerings to critical infrastructure companies. What constitutes critical infrastructure is still being refined, but it would include utilities, banks and transportation such as trains and highways.
Under the program, critical infrastructure companies will pay the providers, which will use the classified information to block attacks before they reach the customers. The classified information involves suspect Web addresses, strings of characters, email sender names and the like.
Not all the cybersecurity providers will be telecom companies, though AT&T is one. Raytheon said this month it had agreed with DHS to become a provider, and a spokesman said that customers could route their traffic to Raytheon after receiving it from their communications company.
As the new set-up takes shape, DHS officials and industry executives said some security equipment makers were working on hardware that could take classified rules about blocking traffic and act on them without the operator being able to reverse-engineer the codes. That way, people wouldn't need a security clearance to use the equipment.
Civil liberties implications
The issue of scanning everything headed to a utility or a bank still has civil liberties implications, even if each company is a voluntary participant.
Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that the executive order did not weaken existing privacy laws, but any time a machine acting on classified information is processing private communications, it raises questions about the possibility of secret extra functions that are unlikely to be answered definitively.
"You have to wonder what else that box does," Tien said.
One technique for examining email and other electronic packets en route, called deep packet inspection, has stirred controversy for years, and some cybersecurity providers said they would not be using that. In deep packet inspection, communication companies or others with network access can examine all the elements of a transmission, including the content of emails.
"The signatures provided by DHS do not require deep packet inspection," said Steve Hawkins, vice president at Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems division, referring further questions to DHS.
The DHS official said the government is still in conversations with the telecom operators on the issue.
The official said the government had no plans to roll out any such form of government-guided close examination of Internet traffic into the communications companies serving the general public.


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Sterling by Music Man Announces John Petrucci Signature Model Finish and Pricing Changes
May 11, 2012
The JP100 now comes in a 3 tone sunburst finish.
Orange, CA (May 11, 2012) – Sterling by Music Man introduces new 3 tone sunburst finish for the popular John Petrucci signature model. The JP100 now comes in a 3 tone sunburst finish. The quilt veneer maple top highlights the beauty of the finish.
JP100 is a fast, sleek instrument designed by John Petrucci and Music Man. Thin fast maple neck, 24 jumbo frets, Shield inlays, locking tuners, floating tremolo bridge, Dome knobs, 3 way switch, 2 high output ceramic magnet pickups. Inspected & set up in Orange, CA USA.
The Sterling by Music Man JP100 3 tone sunburst in stores now.
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E-Learning | Feature
With schools and students now able to secure high-quality online courses from beyond the ivy-covered walls, faculty--and institutions themselves--are weighing whether their stock is rising or falling.
The ivory tower is crumbling. Increasingly, online courses and their content--previously the jealously guarded domain of professors--are being offered as out-of-the-box solutions by third-party companies and even other universities. Terms like "online course provider" and "school-as-a-service" are making the rounds, with Pearson, John Wiley & Sons, and 2U leading the way. But the biggest splash has undoubtedly come from MOOCs, those massive open online courses that have been hogging the ed tech headlines for the past 18 months.
This story appeared in the April 2013 digital edition of Campus Technology.
And indications are that this is just the beginning. The American Council on Education (ACE), the country's go-to course-recommendation service, has just endorsed five Coursera MOOCs for college credit and is currently evaluating seven Udacity courses. Last fall, in a pilot program, San Jose State University (CA) became the first institution of higher learning in the country to offer a MOOC for college credit--three of them, in fact. And two of the top providers of learning management systems, Blackboard and Instructure, now support MOOCs on their platforms.
While none of this suggests that online courses have yet reached the level of a commodity, schools--and students--are no longer restricted to what is cooked up within the confines of their institutions. So what does this trend mean for students? Will it make a wider array of high-quality instruction available, wherever students may be and at whatever school they attend? What does this mean for faculty, and their role in a world of imported coursework? And what does this augur for the schools themselves?
A host of questions still surround the viability of MOOCs, too, but the ACE endorsements offer the clearest evidence yet that they are going mainstream. "All of this is developing very rapidly," says Cathy Sandeen, vice president for education attainment and innovation at ACE. "We're seeing lots of rapid prototyping with Coursera and Udacity, and we're in conversation with edX about reviewing some of its courses. We believe that there will be many different ways that MOOCs will interact with traditional degree programs in the future."
If the SJSU experiment produces acceptable student outcomes and a workable business model, it's likely that a wave of university partnerships with the top providers will follow. And the impact of such partnerships on higher education is a subject of great debate.
Increasing Access Ron Rogers, an SJSU professor who worked with Udacity to develop one of the school's MOOC courses, laughs at the suggestion that he might be putting himself out of a job. While he acknowledges that the advent of MOOCs and other online course offerings presages a changing role for college educators, he doesn't believe the ivory tower will come crashing to the ground anytime soon.
"This is by no means meant to replace brick and mortar and close down classrooms--that's a common reaction I hear," he says of SJSU's MOOC project. "This is about increasing flexibility and access to higher education. Hundreds of thousands of students in California are wait-listed right now for both CSU and the community colleges. And the students who are lucky enough to come to campus can't always get into the courses they need when they need them. This is not about replacing, but enhancing and expanding."
It's a sentiment echoed by Ellen Junn, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SJSU. "Here's the thing that people who are afraid of MOOCs have to understand," she explains. "Accredited institutions must have qualified faculty who have created courses, assignments, lesson plans, and course learning objects, and who assess the progress and performance of students and assign grades. By definition, you could not be an accredited institution if you simply said that the courses will be available online and there's no professor."
Cuts in Faculty Yet some teachers and administrators disagree, believing that MOOCs will inevitably cull the numbers of both institutions and university teachers. As evidence of the anxiety caused by this issue on campus, many of those interviewed for this story were unwilling to go on record with their concerns. "How many people are out there teaching Biology 101 right now?" asked one. "Thousands? How many will we need when that class is widely available as a MOOC? Do the math."
Indeed, the pressure on colleges and universities to find ways to cut costs and generate more revenue should not be underestimated, says Johan de Muinck Keizer, managing director of Agon Advisors, a startup consultancy specializing in helping schools and companies navigate the rapidly changing education landscape. At the higher end--Stanford, Harvard, Princeton--there will always be in-class, face-to-face education, possibly supplemented by open online courses. But for second-tier universities, says de Muinck Keizer, "this is going to be a revolution.
"A school like Stanford has the luxury of using a MOOC as an experimental platform for technology and course innovation. But for some of the smaller, lower-tier universities, this is more of a life-and-death matter. These schools are facing cuts in their state funding, cuts in grants, and dropping enrollments because of high tuition. What's their biggest expense? Tenured professors. That's something that has already come to an end among for-profit universities. [MOOCs] give you the ability to increase the student-to-teacher ratio while you raise the quality of the education. That's a win-win if you're fighting for survival."
As former executive vice president and chief acquisitions officer at Kaplan, de Muinck Keizer has firsthand experience of what has transpired in the for-profit sector. "I'm not saying anyone is g oing to fire the current faculty en masse," he notes. "It will probably happen through attrition."
Indeed, it would be a mistake to see resultant changes to higher education as some kind of overnight revolution. Instead, it's a quickening of an evolution that has been going on for decades. "The roles of educators have been changing for a while," observes Susan Gautsch, director of e-learning and a practitioner on the faculty in information systems at Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. "And so have the sources of the content they use. But the speed at which this is happening now is incredible. Higher education in 15 to 20 years is going to be a totally different beast, unrecognizable by today's standards."
While de Muinck Keizer doesn't sugarcoat his belief that some schools will experience serious pain, he does see a silver lining in the form of downward pressure on the price of higher education. "The schools that get it right will be able to offer courses at lower costs," he says. "That's not a good thing if you're a third- or fourth-tier school and you're already struggling. But that's a good thing overall for students and the availability of education in the United States."
On this point, Junn agrees. SJSU is providing its experimental MOOCs at a competitive rate: $150 for a three-unit course, which is roughly equivalent to what students would pay at a California community college.
Giving Credit for MOOCs
Despite the hoopla surrounding MOOCs, major questions about them remain unresolved: Does the MOOC model work with actual college students? Are these classes scalable and sustainable? And can they generate revenue?
San Jose State University (CA) is in the process of answering these questions with a pilot program called "SJSU Plus," conducted in conjunction with MOOC provider Udacity. The program consists of three classes--entry-level mathematics, elementary statistics, and college algebra. Each course is limited to 100 students, 50 of whom attend the university, and 50 non-matriculating students, including veterans, community college students, and even high school students.
The classes are not technically MOOCs, because they're limited to these small groups of students. But they're the country's first MOOC-formatted courses that are credit based, and the school hopes to learn how--and whether--to use the model in its strategic planning. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing a small grant to support the program, and the National Science Foundation is funding a separate research effort by the university to evaluate student learning and faculty experiences in the pilot.
"It seems as if someone is announcing every half hour that they're doing a MOOC," says Ellen Junn, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SJSU. "And you see these huge numbers--hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in these classes--but the completion rates are barely into double digits. This is a very interesting, new, disruptive innovation, but what do we really know about it? It's premature to jump to conclusions. That's why we're testing it. Our goal is to dig deep and really understand what we have here."
In the view of Susan Gautsch, director of e-learning at Pepperdine University (CA), the MOOC movement will get a tremendous boost if SJSU's for-credit course pilot is a success. "For hundreds of years people have said that education does not scale," she explains. "But it does now. That small group of students taking those classes at San Jose State could one day be a hundred times larger. This is the magic of MOOCs."
Udacity is one of three major MOOC players currently in the market, in addition to edX and Coursera. It took several months to "Udacify" the traditionally taught SJSU classes. The result is a highly interactive online course designed to give the impression that the student is sitting next to someone explaining the concepts. No "lecture, test, lecture, test," says Ron Rogers, an SJSU professor who, along with professor Sean Laraway, worked with Udacity to produce the statistics course.
Although the course is still under way, Rogers says the first exam produced test scores that were "incredibly consistent" with the scores he has seen over the past five years teaching the class. "So, at first blush, it seems to be working just as well."
The school is also evaluating the MOOC business model, which involves a revenue-sharing plan with Udacity: The school gets 51 percent of any revenue after costs. Also, Udacity licenses the content of the MOOCs under a Creative Commons license, which keeps it open source but not resalable.
Boon to Community Colleges But the greatest impact of these changing roles and evolving technologies, at least in the short run, is likely to be felt by non-traditional students--and, by extension, community colleges.
"This is a big plus for community colleges," notes Junn, "because students can be successful in some [MOOC] foundational courses, which helps them to be successful later on and further their education. Enhancing and increasing post-secondary attainment in this country is a huge issue. In some little way, what we are doing with the MOOCs may help move that forward."
ACE is a recognized authority in evaluating non-traditional education experiences: More than 2,000 colleges and universities consider its recommendations when they assess the applicability of a course to a degree program.
"We have a process in place that we've been refining since the 1970s and a large pool of faculty advisers," explains Sandeen. "When MOOCs came on the scene in a big way this past summer and students started to complete the courses, it was really the students who started asking, 'How can I get credit for this?' We realized that maybe we could apply [our] existing process to the MOOCs."
Sandeen is another industry watcher who doubts that MOOCs will result in a reduction in the number of college and university faculty. In fact, she argues, given the education goals of the US, we might need even more as these models evolve.
"I don't see this technology carving up smaller pieces of the pie," she says. "I see it creating a bigger pie."
The Online Education Rush
The media focus on MOOCs has obscured another significant foray into the college course arena by education companies. While courses provided by third-party vendors have been around for decades, the competitive jockeying among vendors has picked up significantly.
Pearson, a textbook publisher turned learning-systems provider, owns a big piece of this market with several products, including MyLab and Mastering, CourseConnect, and a range of online education services. Last year, the company acquired EmbanetCompass, which adds marketing, recruitment, retention services, and instructional design to the menu of Pearson products. At about the same time, publisher John Wiley & Sons purchased Deltak, a Chicago-based company that partners with institutions to develop and support fully online degree and certificate programs.
"This category of companies has existed for a long time," explains Susan Gautsch, director of e-learning and a practitioner on the faculty in information systems at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University (CA). "They were just under the radar. They tend to work behind the scenes with universities and take on many of the administrative elements of a program. And it's usually done in a profit-sharing, risk-sharing partnership."
While some educators describe the offerings of these companies as "school-as-a-service," Gautsch prefers "learning solutions partner," after working last year with EmbanetCompass to launch an online MBA program, a process that took about six months. "It took us longer to make the decision and talk our faculty into the idea than it took to launch, market, get leads, get students enrolled, and get the program online and launch it," she says. "It's just not something we could have done without partnering with the company."
All the industry maneuvering of late may well have been spurred by an unprecedented surge of venture capital into the higher education sector. "I'm seeing a large number of small startups coming on the scene in this space right now," says Johan de Muinck Keizer, an education market consultant. "All of them are trying to do the same thing: help universities set up online courses. Mostly they're focusing on the how-to, and the universities are focused on the curriculum."
One of those leaders is 2U, a company founded in 2008 as 2tor and recently rebranded. 2U partners with top-tier universities to deliver "rigorous, selective graduate degree and undergraduate for-credit programs online," according to its website.
"We work with faculty members to bring what they do in the classroom--all their creativity and expertise--to the virtual online world," explains Chance Patterson, senior vice president of communications at 2U. "We provide the marketing for the program, the learning management system, the technology backbone, the recruiting activities, and the PR and media promotion. We do everything but teach."
While the 2U model differs significantly from MOOCs, it too has the potential to be a disruptive force in education. With the online education arena the tech equivalent of the Oklahoma Land Rush, companies like 2U are helping brand-name universities stake their claims quickly and effectively. Those schools that lag behind may ultimately find that they have the farthest to travel.
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Mini Promoted With Gas Pump Word of the Day
In another simple but inventive marketing tactic, Mini ads have been placed atop gas pumps with "word of the day" trivia giving people something to do while pumping gas. It's a lot better than the cents off coupons for bland products like Coke of Mountain Dew. The words, of course, are related to the gas pumping environment. The word in this ad is "Spumped," defined as a condition that occurs when you get to the gas station but can't remember what side your tank is on.


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oh really? i read that article on NYT
As much as I hate reporters, Tesla seems oddly defensive, and not just in this instance. The only people extreme enough to buy their cars aren't going to listen to some nong reporters anyway.
Yes they would. Their demographic is pretty much people would by the car because they have disposable income, are educated and environmentally conscious.
Damn all these retarded amertures who are trying to be scientific yet they cant even keep one variable constant (car doesn't count). The only thing this shows is that the car can do the distance but has problems that the manufacturer has already hinted at. |


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A complete measure space is one in which any subset of a measure-zero set is measurable.
For what reasons would I want a complete measure space? The only reason I can think of is in the context of probability theory: using complete probability spaces forces almost-everywhere equal random variables to generate the same sigma-sub-algebra.
Am I missing some other important technical reasons?


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'Arrow' "Blind Spot" Sneak Peek Clip: Roy Harper Hulks Out
A few hours ago brought the latest casting news on 'Arrow''s 'Flash' spinoff, but tomorrow's all-new 'Arrow' installment "Blind Spot" will have another character seeing red. Mirakuru super-strength is alive and well in the first clip from tomorrow's latest episode, and to borrow from another super-franchise, Roy Harper SMASH!
While we'll have to wait until next week to see how the Arrow himself handles his future partner, this week busy investigating Sebastian Blood on Laurel's suggestion, the first clip from tomorrow's "Blind Spot" sees Roy (Colton Haynes) seriously losing control of his crime-fighthing abilities. Sin ('The Killing' star Bex Taylor-Klaus) goes undercover as a lady of the evening, but when Roy intervenes, his rage-infused strength nearly puts everyone else in the hospital.
Says The CW of 'Arrow''s "Blind Spot":
ARROW TEAMS UP WITH LAUREL TO FIND THE MAN IN THE MASK — Oliver (Stephen Amell) is conflicted after Laurel (Katie Cassidy) reaches out to the Arrow asking him to investigate Sebastian Blood (guest star Kevin Alejandro). Oliver is unsure whether to believe her accusations against the man he has publically supported for mayor, but decides to trust Laurel. However, when the pair gets too close to the truth, Sebastian exposes Laurel's drug addiction and has her arrested.
Meanwhile, Roy (Colton Haynes) reveals his new super-strength to Sin (guest star Bex Taylor-Klaus) who wants to test out his abilities. Unfortunately, Roy isn't able to contain his rage once unleashed and almost kills a man. Back on the island, Oliver is surprised when Sarah (guest star Caity Lotz) reveals a secret about Laurel.
'Arrow' will only get more intense over 2014 as more and more DC characters come out of the woodwork to take on Oliver Queen, but in the meantime, check out Roy Harper's Hulk-out in the latest 'Arrow' clip above, and tell us in the comments what you want to see from this week's' "Blind Spot"!


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Have you ever been to the Columbia City neighborhood in Seattle?
There's a colorful gem of a shop called Stash located there.
There to greet you are two of the sweetest people, Stephanie and her helper Jackson.
I'd eyed the Picnic Pals by Alyssa Thomas of Penguin and Fish produced by Clothworks earlier in the year.
Stephanie said from the beginnings of Stash she's aimed to stock as many organic fabrics as possible. There's a load of Cloud 9 fabrics mixed in too.
Clothwork's Everyday Organics line is very soft AND affordable. The colors are saturated and right up my colorway alley.
I really like how the colors aren't traditional baby/kid colors.
I think Alyssa's wee creatures are adorable and have more character than most.
Stephanie's got the basics covered. Batik, check, Christmas fabric, check, flannel, for sure check!
If you're a yarn stasher, she's got you covered on that too.
My next game plan is napkins, so I was on the hunt for some fabric for that project.
This kitchen novelty fabric is perfect and goes with my Cathrineholm.
I could have walked away with yards of fabric. Be sure to pop by and stop by Columbia City Bakery while you're at it!


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Worktop Freezers
You're getting both a commercial freezer and valuable prep space when you invest in a commercial Worktop Freezer from MissionRS.com. Our quality stainless steel selection is manufactured by both True Mfg and Turbo Air in a number of styles and configurations suitable for every foodservice setting, from a restaurant kitchen, hotels, schools, or hospitals to name a few. Invest in quality with our worktop freezers by True and Turbo Air at MissionRS.com and enjoy Free Shipping!


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UN officials say we should listen to science. Don't be fooled. It's a rhetorical ploy, a cover for their own agenda.
It's rather shocking to realize that some people regard science as nothing more than a rhetorical device. It's just another tool in the toolbox, to be pulled out whenever they think it might advance their agenda.
How can we tell when someone is playing that game? Pay attention to their language.
The Guardian yesterday contained an article about a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) climate change report. The article refers to Achim Steiner, the UN bureaucrat who heads UNEP, and says:
Despite the slow pace of progress, Steiner said there was still a chance for the world to obey scientific advice.[backed up here]
On the other side of the Atlantic yesterday, a Yale University magazine published an interview with a second UN bureaucrat, Christiana Figueres. She believes the world is undergoing a UN-orchestrated transformation that, in her words, is "going to make the life of everyone on the planet very different." Notice she doesn't say our lives are going to get better. Just different.
But the more important point is her remark that:
governments have decided that they need to listen to science. [backed up here]
And then there's the article authored by a third UN bureaucrat over at the activist Responding to Climate Change website, headlined:
Pachauri: Science must drive ambition in Doha [backed up here]
Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, wants us to believe that UN emissions reductions negotiations are about nothing more than pure science.
In the world inhabited by such bureaucrats, science is something humans are supposed to obey. Something we're supposed to listen to. Something that should drive our behavior.
In other words, science is the new God, the new authority figure whose mere presence is supposed to mesmerize us. Listen, we are told, and obey. Follow meekly wherever science leads.
But science itself leads us everywhere and nowhere. Only childish or exploitative people think that science lays out a single path for us to follow. In a brilliant piece earlier this week, journalist Andrew Orlowski includes this sub-heading: "Scientists are clever, they should tell us what to do – right?" followed by these lines:
A thought exercise. Imagine, if you will, that an astronomer discovered a large space rock hurtling to Earth. The precise time and date of impact were then calculated. This would leave us with a wide range of moral and economic choices. It would be very strange, in fact inconceivable, if someone handed all these decisions to the astronomer to make.
"Here you go, Man with the Telescope – tell us what to do!" [backed up here]
A chapter in my book is titled Science is Not a Tyrant. It makes an argument similar to Orlowski's. I say that while journalists and activists love to play the 'science says' game, the job of science is to provide us with data. How we choose to respond to that data is an entirely separate discussion.
There is always more than one possible course of action. There are always tradeoffs to be weighed. No individual scientist – and no group of scientists – has the right to make those decisions on everyone else's behalf.
Anyone who argues that 'science has spoken' and that we must therefore listen and obey is being profoundly undemocratic. They are denying the wider community – you and me – a voice.
Quelle surprise that this line of argument is being pushed aggressively this week by UN bureaucrats – just prior to the launch of a new round of UN climate negotiations in Doha.
These people are scary. They were never elected by us, but they think it's their right to choose our future – to guide us down a particular, UN-approved path.
Do not, for one minute, believe them when they tell you that that path is dictated by science.


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Blackhawks recall prospect Teravainen from Finland
CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled top prospect Teuvo Teravainen and placed Patrick Kane on the long-term injury list.
The Blackhawks also recalled forward Jeremy Morin from Rockford of the AHL. Morin has one goal and four assists in 15 games with Chicago this season.
The Blackhawks lost Kane to a lower-body injury during Wednesday's 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The star forward could miss the rest of the regular season.
Coach Joel Quenneville says key forwards Brandon Saad and Bryan Bickell and defenseman Michal Rozsival also will miss Friday night's game against Carolina.
The 19-year-old Teravainen, Chicago's first-round selection in the 2012 draft, led his team in Finland with 44 points in 49 games this season. Quenneville says Teravainen will not play against the Hurricanes.


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My Rock n Roll Wine List
Inspired by mega wine blogger 1WineDude (@1WineDude) and Rock and Roll Wine (I decided to put my Rock-n-Roll perspectives on the wine varietals (types of grapes) that I've had the pleasure of ingesting. Wine itself, doesn't get its due in rock music. The most common reference is to cheap wine (ala Billy Joel and Neil Diamond). True rockers (and hillbilly) go for beer and whiskey references. The best props to wine, at least the Champagne variety, comes from the hip-hop world.
Below are my rock-n-roll reviews of the basic wine grapes from music that is on my Zune (yes, I own a Zune and not an iPod). Feel free to pass this along as a form of reference and awareness to your beer swilling, martini sipping, Jack and Coke slugging friends. (Part 2 is here)
The Regulars
Merlot – The Merlot grape is very palatable and an easy to drink red. Can be paired with lots of foods and rarely is it found offensive. My music pairing is Bon Jovi. Their music is still relevant and tasty, but rarely is there anything memorable from their recent records. They can make a crossover to other genres, their music is rarely bold or offensive and they reach a broad audience.
Chardonnay – Popular and hearty. Grows in a number of climates Can come across mis-understood by some and smooth and buttery by others. Overall, a decent white wine to cut your teeth on and an overall classic. My musical pairing, U2. Making chart topping AND socially conscience music for over 25 years, U2 can be smooth but also abrasive. Wide appeal but losing their former luster.
Cabernet Sauvignon – Rich, bold red that is considered the king of red grapes. Very strong flavor, tannins and acid that cut through food, often overpowering to be consumed without food. Can be offensive to some but to those who understand its brashness is very much appreciated. Music pairing – Was torn on this one, so I chose ACDC and Led Zeppelin. Both bands are kings of their genre. Hard hitting, in your face, and often under appreciated. Can be tough to listen to in their entirety, but very much a delight when a song comes up on shuffle. The bands are huge in sound but still have an amazing appeal. Some are completely turned off by their sound.
Riesling – In some regions this wine provides a dry flavor that is great with fish, chicken and pork. California Riesling tends to be sweet and lacking acidity and balance. Liked by many and a great crossover wine grape that tends to be popular among the female crowd for social drinking. Music pairing – Taylor Swift; While I don't have any Taylor on my Zune (I swear), you can't help but notice that her music is sometimes dry, sometimes sweet and sappy, lacks balance and has a hugely wide appeal…just sayin'.
Pinot Noir – This difficult to grow grape is rarely blended with other varietals. Can range from sweet and fruity to rough and earthy. The Noble Pinot Noir is either loved and cherished for its complexity and terroir specificity or disliked for the same reasons. Musical Pairing – Beatles (specifically the later years). While I have yet to discover a palate for Pinot Noir, I am a huge Beatles fan. In my interactions with people, I find they either are passionate about them or could take them or leave them. Regardless of their like or dislike people always respect their influence in music and popular culture. While their early success was based on hysteria and less substantive music, their best stuff came as they explored the boundaries of music and what was considered 'popular.'
I think I'll make this post a two parter. I would love to hear your thoughts. For my wino friends, what musical pairings would you offer to the varietals you enjoy.
DOTD? (Drink of the Day) – Finished of the last of the 2004 Brassfield Estate Bottled Round Mountain Zinfandel. You?
Enjoy life with friends and DRINK.HAPPY
13 comments on "My Rock n Roll Wine List"
1WineDude A very cool idea… I'd never consider PN with Revolver but it does feel right!
Nate Very cool! I'm a cab-sav drinker myself, so ROCK ON!
Jim Wilkerson I could think on this for days, but my first reaction is Pinot Noir is more like Miles Davis – experts & aficionados love it and most people will acknowledge it's quality, but rarely enjoy listening to it/drinking it. (This may be less true post-Sideways, but if there is a popular bio-pic on Miles Davis starring Jamie Foxx, I'll be vindicated.)
Not sure I'm with you on Riesling/Taylor Swift. Riesling is often the favorite grape of wine pros, even if low-end examples in blue bottles tarnish it's image (same could be said of most grapes). I doubt many music critics hold Taylor Swift in the highest esteem. Perhaps she's more appropriate for Pinot Grigio: loved by the masses and unfairly dismissed by those who consider themselves sophisticated.
Bon Jovi/Merlot is a good one.
Fun post!
drinknectar Jim – thanks for your insight. You make a great point on the Riesling/Taylor Swift pairing. My trouble may be that I've never had a knock out Riesling, so basing on my experience and taste. Jaimie Foxx as Miles Davis would be awesome!
weeklywinejournal How about Shiraz? AC/DC pre Fly on the Wall.
Meritage? The Eagles greatest hits-
drinknectar Great input! Thanks!
tricerapops i'd liken the Stones to Cab Franc. i love both, and while the connection may not be as obvious, i feel as if cab franc can be as polarizing as the stones are (even more than the beatles i feel). there's no doubt the stones' impact on rock and roll (and cab franc as a variety in the wine world) however, which is why i'd pair the two.
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Phil Anderson This post is a great idea. Although I responded to your specific request on Facebook here is my five top pairings personally, in no particular order, and NOT necessarily Rock and Roll:
*Little Feat Texas Twister Cabernet Sauvignon
*Spyro Gyra Breakfast at Igor's Syrah
*BIlly Joel New York State of Mind, Baby Grand and Scenes From an Italian Restaurant ("Bottle of White, bottle of Red, perhaps a bottle of Rose instead". By the way, "….we'll buy some cheap a wine, sit on the corner and have a holiday…." is from Half A Mile Away off of 52nd Street) Principato (from Italy and yes, inexpensive but not at ALL cheap!)
*Jamie Cullum Music is Through A big, complex Red Blend, Bordeaux Style
*Stevie Wonder I Wish Sauvignon Blanc (preferrably from New Zealand)Thanks again for this idea! Got me thinking!


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Red Bank, NJ – (October 25, 2012) -Scientists at Natcore Technology Inc. (TSX-V: NXT; NTCXF.PK) have created the world's first black silicon solar cell using processes amenable to low-cost mass production.
After recently treating a wafer to make it the "blackest" silicon solar cell surface ever recorded, Natcore's technicians used their scalable liquid phase deposition (LPD) process to create the black silicon solar cell, from wafer to finished cell, in their R&D Center in Rochester, NY.
In the past, Natcore had directed other labs–e.g. Arizona State University, the Photovoltaic R&D Center at the University of Toledo, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)–to perform various production steps or to conduct tests for which Natcore was not equipped.
But in July, Natcore completed a $2.5 million financing to enable the company to take its black silicon technology to commercialization. A portion of the proceeds was invested in the brainpower and lab equipment needed to execute its work quickly and in-house. "This black silicon solar cell, made entirely in our lab, is the first fruit of that investment," says Chuck Provini, Natcore President and CEO.
While Natcore's "Absolute Black" silicon wafers have near-zero reflectivity, meaning that virtually 100% of the light that reaches them is available for conversion to electricity, these wafers are merely components of a solar cell; they do not generate electricity until fashioned into solar cells.
The next stop for Natcore's new solar cell is NREL, with which Natcore has a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA). NREL recently produced solar cells with an efficiency of 18.2% using processes that are less suited to mass production. Under the terms of the CRADA, NREL and Natcore will work together using Natcore's low-cost passivation technology to achieve or exceed that efficiency with Natcore's black silicon solar cells.
This goal would be accomplished by combining Natcore's patented LPD technology with NREL's technologies for creating a black silicon antireflective layer integrated into high-efficiency solar cells. The feasibility of the combined technologies working together has already been demonstrated in a preliminary Natcore/NREL effort that produced a small-area, lab-scale black silicon solar cell with 16.5% efficiency.
Dr. Hao-Chih Yuan, NREL Research Scientist, says "We have a good synergy with Natcore on black silicon technology. A silicon surface, without proper coating, is detrimental to the energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell. It is not unusual to grow silicon dioxide coatings on black silicon surfaces for this purpose, but the growth is typically at very high temperatures. Natcore's coating uses chemistry. They are the ones who can passivate a black silicon surface cheaply."
Eric Payne, NREL's Senior Licensing Executive adds, "Natcore is the nearest-term and best partner for commercialization of the black silicon technology."
Provini says, "NREL holds the efficiency record with black silicon, but they used a passivation technology that requires expensive thermal oxidation. We will replace that cumbersome step with our LPD oxide process. We believe the combination of the two technologies could significantly exceed NREL's record cell efficiency."
In December 2011, Natcore was granted a patent license agreement from NREL to develop and commercialize a line of black silicon products, including equipment, chemicals, and solar cells, based on NREL patents. The license grants Natcore exclusivity in the field of diffused emitters with liquid phase passivation.
Natcore's "Absolute Black" silicon wafers are significant for two reasons. First, they yield a tenfold reduction in reflectance, which mean that up to 3% more usable light would get into the solar cell, effectively increasing the cell efficiency by that amount. Second, a panel made from Absolute Black solar cells should produce significantly more energy on a daily basis than will a panel made from cells using the industry standard antireflective coating. That's because it reflects less light and because it should perform better during the morning and afternoon hours when the sun hits at an angle. (It should also outperform standard cell panels on cloudy days.) "Its higher energy output, combined with a lower cost using Natcore's patented process, could quickly make black silicon the global solar technology of choice," adds Provini.
Natcore's Chairman, Brien Lundin, notes "This is a major milestone for Natcore and the entire solar industry. A low-cost, scalable production process was the missing piece in making black silicon solar cells viable. We now look forward to providing this key capability."
# # # # #
Statements in this press release other than purely historical factual information, including statements relating to revenues or profits, or Natcore's future plans and objectives, or expected sales, cash flows, and capital expenditures constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in Natcore's business, including risks inherent in the technology history. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Except in accordance with applicable securities laws, Natcore expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking statements that are incorporated by reference herein.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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Anemia, a common blood disorder characterized by low hemoglobin levels, has long been associated with those suffering from colorectal cancer. But researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered that, more than a symptom of active disease, low hemoglobin levels can actually indicate a potential for colon cancer years before it's diagnosed.
Graduate student Inbal Goldshtein, who works with Dr. Gabriel Chodick and Dr. Varda Shalev of Tel Aviv University's School of Public Health and Maccabi Healthcare Services' Department of Medical Informatics, says that paying close attention to routine blood test results can be an effective screening system for colon cancer which, when diagnosed early enough, can be treated effectively. More than 50,000 people in the U.S. will die from colon cancer in 2010. Better screening could significantly reduce those numbers, Goldshtein says.
The study, recently published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, shows that most patients with colon cancer have a history of consistently declining hemoglobin levels up to four years before being diagnosed with the disease. Previously, says Goldshtein, researchers only looked for a sharp decrease in hemoglobin levels as a symptom of colon cancer. But Goldshtein and her fellow researchers have discovered that it's the continuous long-term decline that may announce the onset of cancer. A declining trend of more than 0.28 grams per decilitre every six months over a four-year period was observed and may serve as a warning of illness on the horizon.
An important downward trend
Taking into account the correlation between anemia and colorectal cancer, the team was keen to discover if a decline in hemoglobin levels could be detected prior to the critical stages of the disease -- something no researcher had yet attempted to quantify. Over 3,000 patients suffering from colorectal cancer participated in the study; they were compared with 10,000 control cases without colorectal cancer. Goldshtein and her fellow researchers looked at data from each participant's blood tests over a ten-year period, retrieved from the computerized database of Maccabi Healthcare Services.
Though hemoglobin levels may vary in every human being as a result of aging, a distinct trend was discovered among study participants who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer during the study period. Approximately four years prior to their diagnoses, their blood tests began to show a continuous decline in hemoglobin levels.
For the most part, says Goldshtein, these warning signs went unnoticed. "In practice, a doctor will look at the final results, and see if the hemoglobin levels are within a normal range," she explains. "But this is not accurate enough. It is important to look at the continuing trend of each individual. If a person experiences a consistent decline relative to his own average level, it may be cause for concern."
Participants of the study with colorectal cancer experienced a sharp decline in hemoglobin levels, but because the declines did not put them outside the normal range, no red flags were raised.
A new algorithm for the average physical
The benefit of this screening process is that can be part of an average physical. Current testing for colorectal cancer is often expensive and unpleasant. There is also a very low compliance rate among patients, she adds.
The next step, says Dr. Shalev, is to create an algorithm which will automatically detect suspicious declines in hemoglobin levels, advising physicians to send their patients for further testing. Ideally, she notes, the Tel Aviv University team will develop a computer program that will display warnings when there is cause for concern.
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Rare Sri Lankan Leopards Debut in France
April 16, 2012
Sri Lankan Leopard cubs at 15 days old
Threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, this rare subspecies of Leopard got a helping hand from the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme. Of the seventy-seven Sri Lankan Leopards in captivity, sixty-six live in Europe, including these two adorable cubs, born March 6.
This is the first litter for Leïah, La Palmyre Zoo's 4 year old Sri Lankan Leopard female. The two babies, now five weeks old, are in perfect health.
The cubs spent their first week secluded with mom to minimize disturbances while the family bonded. Since then the babies received vet check-ups and microchips. They made their big debut this past Friday.


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Is anyone familiar with the acronyms used in TV service menus? youd think itd be pretty straight forward. What does FAC stand for? I know R, G, B, V and H. There are like 100 different controls and most of then dont even seem to change anything when I adjust the picture.
The problem Im having now is that the sides looks convex and the picture is too wide from right to left. There's an attribute called Hsize6 and adjusting it does nothing.
On my Sony I was able to correct the convex shape but this one is baffling me. Its a Magnavox. Im trying to adjust as much as I can without having to physically open it up and adjust things that way


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T-800 Endoskeleton
Review by AJProDie-Cast
Terminator 2 Judgment Day - 1/6 Scale T-800 Is made by Aoshima, and like its ventures into Thunderbirds and Getter Robo, the Chogokin is well-crafted and full of diecast.
The Terminator figure is big, similar in size to Masterpiece Convoy/Optimus Prime by Takara. It has impressive metal content and is very heavy upon holding the figure. It has tons of pistons and joints that work and some that are just plastic for show. The figure comes with a stand that clamps onto the back of the figure to provide stability when posing (he is top heavy).
The Terminator poses pretty well but nothing too extreme; the head just tilts and arms and legs pump but no real side to side. The figure is nice and great for cool menacing looks (the red eyes of the skull-like face are right on). There are only two flaws and, while annoying, okay if you pose with care. The pistons can bend if you move legs or arms too quickly (one of mine did) and at the top of the arms are the two spring-type wires...
They just rest into two holes near the stomach but attach to the arms with pin size pieces of plastic. The angle is awkward and they can easily snap. Mine did; I had to do some repair work to reattach them, and even now, if you move arms by the shoulders, you have to be very careful.
I love this figure, the imposing stares, the large size, and the cool positions and gear type look. All the pictures are of the normal version; there is a also a weathered version that comes with different gun.
I bought from Statue Toys for 130USD not including shipping; not a cheap chogokin, but not extreme like the Fewture line. Overall a nice piece for chogokin fans or Terminator fans alike.
Posted 7 June, 2008 - 07:03 by AJProDie-Cast |
8 comments postedCouple months ago, at my local toyfare, somebody is auctioning this toy. And is sold for about 65$...
wish I had gotten for that:) I thought 138 was cool, oh well one thing I have found in buying chogokin you can get a 100 USD swing on just about anything, if you have patience things are good...too often I have little patience= bad waste of $$$
Nah... 138 is also cool... In my book, any price below SRP is great. Be too patience and you might loose it. Be a rush collector and you might loose $$$...
Very very tough... specially when todays toy price.
I've always wondered about the quality of these figures. Cool to hear about them! The diecast content is pretty key for a character like this!
One thing I'd suggest, though...you can definitely improve on your photos with a simple, cheapie tripod, a backdrop (even just a white sheet draped down the wall onto your table), a little more even lighting. If your camera's decent enough, you can play with the white balance settings (to get more accurate color), macro mode (to get sharper pics), and aperture/shutter speed settings (to get perfect lighting in the shots). Macro mode plus a timer/delay and the tripod will ensure that your pics are super-sharp.
Good luck and have fun with it! Looking forward to more!
Yeah noticed the close up pics came out bad, two were money shots that looked great and then the other three were poor, Think it is the camera, will use the better one for next time and will use your advice on tripod and backdrop, thanks
Remarkably, I've never used a tripod until just recently. And considering that my camera is pretty cheap, it's amazing I've gotten results as good as I have. Not always perfect, but usually ok. But my camera has trouble sometimes with closeups (even with a tripod) and it ain't worth crap for taking pictures of glowies, which is partly why I haven't reviewed any. Some day I'll upgrade, but I suspect it won't happen until it's absolutely unavoidable. In the meantime, in case anyone didn't know it was there, there is a section on tips for photos in out FAQ
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
Yeah, if you have sufficient light, a tripod isn't always necessary. But with just ambient room lighting, you need one for sure.
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George V was the second eldest son of Edward VII and Alexandra. Born in 1865, he first visited Australia with his elder brother Prince Albert as midshipmen aboard the HMS Bacchante in 1880. George seemed destined for a professional career in the Navy, but the heir apparent, Prince Albert, died in 1892 after contracting pneumonia. Prince George therefore became heir apparent (and hence Prince of Wales) and went on to marry his brother's former fiancee, who later became Queen Mary. He and his wife held the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York.
The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York visited Australia in May 1901 to open the first Commonwealth Parliament. Their tour was one of the most lavish undertaken by the monarchy. An Orient steamship liner was chartered for the voyage as no royal yacht could span the required distances between coaling ports. The Daily Telegraph's London correspondent reported that the 'The tour of the Duke and Duchess of York is likely to cost the British ratepayer a cool quarter of a million.'
Arriving in Victoria on 6 May, the Duke and the Duchess were greeted with enthusiasm by the people of Melbourne. They attended a full programme of receptions, dinners and events. Public holidays allowed people to glimpse the royal couple. Australia's connection to the British Empire was clearly evident.
The Argus reported a typical event at Government House the day after their arrival, when the Duke 'received all citizens who were anxious to evidence their loyalty in that manner. The gathering was the most important ever witnessed in the colony. About 4,000 gentlemen attended, and paid their respects to the Heir Apparent with due decorum, and yet with celerity. The Duke shook hands with each and by pleasant tact and savoire faire placed all at their ease.' (Argus 1901, p. 6). The Duke and Duchess were kept busy with a program ranging from dinner and a University Commencement to the presentation of prizes to public schools. During their 10 day visit to Victoria they made a brief visit to country Victoria and managed to fit in a day's shooting.
The tour also included visits to the other states, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
George and Mary had six children: Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales and later King Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor; Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, later King George VI; Princess Victoria; Prince Henry the Duke of Gloucester; Prince George the Duke of Kent; and Prince John.
George ascended the throne on his father's death on 9 May 1910. He was crowned in 1911. During his reign, which spanned World War I, the royal house abandoned the title The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (or the house of Hanover or Brunswick) and became known as the house of Windsor.
George died in 1936, and was succeeded briefly by Edward VIII who abdicated in favour of George VI.
Argus. 8 May 1901.
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A friend of mine who regularly reads this blog recently e-mailed to tell me that she's visiting Mainland China with a tour group next month. I'm not sure how many days she'll spend in Beijing but, already, since the entire tour -- which will also take in Shanghai, Suzhou and Xian, among other locales -- will only take up two weeks, I know that her time in the "Northern Capital" (which is what Beijing's name translates from Mandarin into) just won't feel enough.
Not that I'm the greatest Beijing travel expert out there by any means. In fact, I've only ever been to, and in, Beijing -- and Mainland China itself! -- once thus far in my life! Nevertheless, if nothing else, that single one-and-a-half week visit got me realizing how much there is to see and do in that city which is already pretty huge and spread out but still looks to be ever growing.
And this even if you didn't venture out on a side trip to the Great Wall of China. Something which it really would be a great pity to miss out on -- and this especially since it would be a major case of "so close, yet so far" as, at its most conveniently accessible from Beijing (i.e., Juyong Guan), this lengthy structure is less than 60 kilometers (i.e., a mere 37 miles or so) away from Beijing -- but, simultaneously, an outing that would take up, at the very least, a fairly full day on your itinerary.
Then there's the monumental behemoth in the center of Beijing itself that requires at least a day's visit to do it justice. And yes, I know that guided tours regularly allocate just half a day (or even no more than three hours) to a visit to the Forbidden City. But look at the images at the top of this blog entry and just you try to tell me that you think half a day would be enough to spend in what is, after all, the largest and most completely preserved palatial architecture group in the world!
For make no mistake: The Forbidden City is a city, not a single palace. Heck, even the term "palace complex" doesn't quite do it justice. After all, and here I quote from a Beijing photobook entitled Overlooking Beijing which serves as a great souvenir of my September 2004 visit to the city, this former imperial residence "occupies an area of 720,000 square meters [around 864,000 square yards for those whose countries haven't converted to the metric system] with 80 palaces containing over 9,000 bays of rooms"!
In all honesty, the sheer size -- never mind the grandeur -- of the Forbidden City took my breath away. And this from someone who had previously visited other grand imperial and royal residences like England's Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, France's Palace of Versailles and Chateau de Fontainebleau, Austria's Schloss Schoenbrunn, Istanbul's Topkapi and Dolmabahce Palaces, etc., etc.
Still, should you need more proof of the Forbidden City's ability to awe and impress, here's what popular travel authority Frommer's has to say about it on its website: "despite the flood of superlatives and exaggerated statistics that inevitably go into its description, it is impervious to an excess of hype, and it is large and compelling enough to draw repeat visits from even the most jaded travelers. Make more time for it than you think you'll need."
This is especially so if you venture beyond the well-trodden and crowded central areas of the complex that are dominated by the fancifully named Halls of Great (or Supreme) Harmony, Middle (or Complete) Harmony and Preserving Harmony; and where such amazing pieces of material culture as a single stone that weighs more than 200 tons and has been elaborately carved with dragons, stylized clouds, equally stylized waves and interlocking lotus flowers are to be found.
In particular, I'd highly recommend that visitors to the Forbidden City not pass up the opportunity to venture into both its Western and Eastern Axes (the latter of which requires an extra 10 Yuan worth of entrance costs on top of the basic 40 or 60 Yuan (depending on the season) admission fee for the general Palace Museum but truly is 10 Yuan that's worth paying).
Incidentally, more than one Beijing guidebook that I've looked at has cautioned that the Western Axis is in a state of heavy disrepair. However, many of the buildings in that part of the Forbidden City appeared to already have been restored -- or, at least, worked on -- when I visited back in September 2004.
Consequently, I was able to get quite a bit out of my explorations of such as the historically significant Hall of Mental Cultivation as well as the Six Western Palaces, one of which -- the Palace of Gathering Elegance -- is particularly notorious for having been the actual residence for several years of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
For all this though, I'd still say that the Eastern Axis is my favorite part of the Forbidden City. For one thing, perhaps in large part because of that extra 10 Yuan charge, it's the least crowded -- and consequently also the quietest -- section of the Forbidden City.
For another, it's where certain of the imperial residence turned museum's more incredible artefacts -- including large pieces of painstakingly sculpted jade (one of which weighs an incredible 1.07 tons!), antique artwork and imperial jewelry, not to mention the famous Nine Dragons Screen which dates back to the reign of Emperor Qianlong -- are housed.
To sum up what I've been trying to say all along in one single concluding paragraph: No visit to Mainland China, never mind Beijing, will feel complete without a tour of the Forbidden City. At the same time, no visit to the Forbidden City will feel complete without also taking in its Western section and, particularly, Eastern Axis along with the complex's central areas. Consequently, you really ought to spend at least one day there in order to be able to sufficiently take in and appreciate the wonder of it all.


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It's a new beer with some unusual characteristics.
Only 12 bottles were brewed, and they sold for $765 each.
It had an alcohol content of 55%. Can you even get that without distillation? Does it even count as a beer? Does it taste like beer?
It comes in a unique bottle wrapped in preserved roadkill.
It's an interesting combination, not one element of which gives me any desire to drink the stuff.
(Also on FtB)


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Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published in the March issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
"There's a public perception that teaching hospitals can be dangerous places because of training issues, and concerns are frequently voiced by patients and echoed in the press regarding a fear of physicians-in-training practicing on them," says the lead author of the paper, Robert Meguid, M.D., a surgical resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The data from our study help refute these fears."
The Johns Hopkins investigators looked at data from 46,951 patients, ages 18 to 85, who underwent surgery for lung cancer at hospitals across the United States between 1998 and 2004. Operations ranged from small lung-segment removal to total lung removal.
The researchers tracked discharges and deaths, and compared patient outcomes at three different types of hospitals - those with any type of physician specialty training program, those with general surgery training programs and those with thoracic surgery training programs. They took into account factors such as age, gender and other illnesses of each patient, and they also took into consideration the number of each of the different types of lung cancer surgeries that each hospital performed.
"It has been well studied and reported that for complex procedures for high-risk patients, the more surgeries a hospital performs; the more likely the patient will survive the operation and hospitalization. This is the first study we know of which shows that teaching hospitals are factors associated with good patient outcome, independent of volume," says Meguid.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both males and females in the United States. In 2007, there were an estimated 213,380 new cases of lung cancer in the United States and 160,390 deaths related to the disease. Management of lung cancer has greatly improved over the past several decades. As a result, an increasing number of patients become eligible for lung resection procedures every year.
"Considerable efforts have been made to identify factors that may improve the quality of surgical care and associated outcomes for these high-risk patients," says Meguid. "Surgery for lung cancer at teaching hospitals may provide one source of quality improvement."
Additional researchers in the study from the Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, include Stephen Yang, M.D., chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery; Malcolm Brock, M.D.; Benjamin Brooke, M.D., David Chang, Ph.D., and Timothy Sherwood, M.D. Sherwood has since left Johns Hopkins and is currently at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Va.
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Road trip to Davenport Vineyard (and video)
What better way to spend a lovely early spring day ( and my birthday) then a day out in the English countryside, visiting an English vineyard. No sniggers, please. England has been making wines since Roman times but only as recently as the 90's have the English really gotten serious about producing quality wines. Whether it has to do with global warming or not, some are now winning major wine awards. Thanks to Nytimber, Denbies, Camel Valley and Hush Heath (which I've written about previously) to name a few, England is quickly gaining a reputation in the wine world for producing quality sparkling wines (and still wines are coming up), having won a number of international wine accolades and awards.
I visited Davenport Vineyards in Rotherfield, East Sussex with Kathryn O'Mara from Artisan & Vine. She's keen on sourcing as many natural and local wines as possible for her winebar so we were down to try the local stuff. Once there, we discovered that Davenport is also a natural, organic farm – bonus! We were greeted by a friendly black labrador, Nelson, and after picking out way through the hodge-podge of building materials laying about – they are currently renovating their 14th century barn, we found Will Davenport in his lab testing his latest wines for sulfur content.
Will is the owner and winemaker of Davenport and originally planted his vines in 1991. Currently there are 12 acres under vine and the vineyard has been managed organically since 2000 under certification by the UK Soil Association. Will tries to use as little intervention as possible – natural yeasts, no fining or filtering, no pesticides, fungicides and he uses organic winemaking practices. Will aims to make wines that showcase the soil and the fruit of his wines, not his wine manipulating skills.
We had the opportunity to try the Limney Estate, '07 Horsmunden Dry White, the Limney Estate '05 sparkling and the Duchy of Cornwall Sparkling, which Will makes for the Prince's Trust. Check out the video to see what we thought…
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Will concentrates on growing aromatic varietals as many are cold climate and particularly suited for the English climate. They are a weird and wonderful melange of varietals. Here is a list of some of them (from Davenport's website) with Will's comments:
- Ortega – An early ripening white grape which can be susceptible to botrytis. It produces full bodied white wines with a flavour of mango and melon. It ripens fully in almost any year and requires no sugar or acid adjustment in the winery. This variety makes the backbone of our "Horsmonden" dry white every year.
- Faber – A cross between Muller-Thurgau x Pinot blanc which ripens late (normally picked at the end of October). It attains good sugar levels while still keeping highacid levels. The main quality of the wine is in its fine delicate aromas of rose petals, with flavours of apples and citrus fruit. This is probably the closest to a Riesling style that can be easily grown in the UK. Our 1999 example is made very crisp and dry for those who like dry wines, or are prepared to put it in their cellar for a treat in 2 to 3 years time.
- Bacchus – Among the better known of UK grape varieties, this one probably wins more medals in wine competitions than any other variety. Aromatic wines are made, which vary from grassy to fruit-salad style, depending on the ripeness of the fruit. Very up-front, often with typical elderflower character. The 2000 Bacchus (newly released) is a classic example.
- Huxelrebe – The bunches on a Huxelrebe must be some of the largest of any variety. It can get botrytis in wet conditions, but in good years will produce a wine capable of ageing for several years in the bottle. As the wine ages it develops a more Muscat style aroma.
- Siegerrebe – These grapes ripen before the rest, by at least two weeks. The berries are bronze in colour and the wines are highly scented, like a light fragrant Muscat wine. It is normally used in blending to balance the higher acidity of other varieties.
- Pinot Noir – After successfully growing this variety at Rotherfield, we decided to plant a further 2 acres at our Horsmonden site in the spring of 2000. It will be 3 years before we will see any crop from this planting, but we hope to use these grapes to produce a red wine.
Will was a delightful, low-key host and his wines, both still and sparkling, were very well made. Kathryn and I were both bowled over by the calibre of the wines, absolutely gorgeous wines. A most enjoyable day out in the English countryside.
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The points above are all very insightful, thanks very much.
Love that video – and not just for the soundtrack! Hope you can do something similar if/when you make it down my way…
Absolutely! Really looking forward to exploring all of England's wine country!
This really was a fantastic day out – great to see the footage! Good you also edited out the several times we tried getting that grape list right ahead of that edit!
Will is as classically understated on film as in life… the Davenport wines are a brilliant example of a natural wine working in English conditions. The Dry White finish was incredibly long & complex. These are emotionally accessible wines – you feel that a person (rather than a production line) made thm.
We have the Limney sparkling in @ artisan&vine & will have the Horsmunden Dry White after I get back from visiting vineyards in Languedoc over Easter!
Look forward to our next UK vineyard visit Ms Sleuth!
I'm looking forward to our next visit, too! I like the point you made about emotionally accessible wines, too true!
- Millton Vineyards, pioneering biodynamic NZ wines « The Winesleuth - [...] I started hanging around A&V, even taking a trip with Kathryn to Davenport Vineyards (video here) this past March.…